Reducing benevolent sexism: Focusing on its harm against women and pervasiveness

Abstract

Although gender equality is a global goal, significant disparity remains between men and women. Benevolent sexism (BS) is widespread and contributes to the maintenance of the gender gap. To reduce BS, many previous studies have implemented long-term intervention programmes. In contrast, we posit that it is necessary to reduce BS efficiently through simpler methods. This study aimed to reduce participants' BS endorsement by presenting experimental vignettes regarding (a) the harm of BS against women and (b) the pervasiveness of BS. An online experiment was conducted with male and female Japanese participants (n = 816). The results showed that the main effect of presenting the harm of BS against women was significant only among female participants. However, neither the main effect of presenting the pervasiveness of BS nor the interaction between presenting harm and pervasiveness were found. We suggested strategies to reduce BS, especially when endorsed by men. Our experimental manipulation can be conducted in a short time and on many participants simultaneously. More empirical studies aimed at reducing BS should be conducted in the future.